正在同步电影信息
ChinaTownisaprojectedphotographicanimationwithsound,madefromthousandsofdigitalphotographs.ThephotographsweretakenbytheartistLucyRaveninquicksuccessionandareanimatedinsuchawaythateachstaysonscreenforadifferentdurationbutfornomorethanafewseconds.Thisgivestheprojectionapeculiarrhythmratherthanaregularorrepetitiveone.Thejoltyappearanceofthephotographsisemphasisedbythecontrastwiththesound,whichiscontinuous.<br/> Thephotographstracktheprocessoftheproductionofcopperwire,fromtheminingoforeinNevada,throughthetransportationoftheorefromVancouver,toChinawhereitissmeltedandrefined.Raven’sworkrepresentstheconditionsoflabourindifferentcountriesandpointstotheanomaliesofproductionintheearlytwenty-firstcentury,amomentwhenChina,acountryineconomicascendancy,isstillusedbyaneconomicsuperpower(NorthAmerica)toprocessitsrawmaterials.<br/> Theartist’sprimarymotivationinaddressingthissubjectwastoquestiontherhetoricofthe‘wireless’ageandtoexaminetheexhaustionofnaturalandhumanresources.Itisoneofthemythsofthepresenttimethatwearelessdependentonrawmaterialsandhumanlabour,sinceourmediadevicessuchassmartphones,IPadsandlaptopsarenow‘wireless’.Asweconsume,createanddistributedigitalinformationwiththesedevices,wearepersuadedmoreandmoretoforgetaboutthematerialsthatrunthem,andonwhichtheiroperationsdepend.ScepticalaboutthisrhetoricRavenfocusedonthecopperwiresthatenable‘wireless’communications,andonthepeoplewholabourtoproducecopperwire.HerresearchtookherfromherhomecountryofAmerica,acrossthePacific.HerconcernsinthisworkareclosetothoseofSteveMcQueen,whosefilmGravesend2007(MuseumofModernArt,NewYork)looksattheminingofcoltan–amineralusedincomputers–intheDemocraticRepublicofCongo,andSimonStarling,whohasalsomadeworkonthesubjectoftheminingandrefiningofmetalssuchasaluminium.<br/> Raven’sworkisalsopartofatraditionofAmericanartconcernedwithdocumentingeconomicandmanufacturingprocesses,recallinginparticulartheworkofAllanSekula.LikeSekula,Ravenisinterestedinthelinebetweendocumentaryandfineartpractice.AstraightdocumentaryfilmmakermightbedrawntothesubjectexaminedinChinaTown,butRaven’sdecisiontoanimatehermaterialrevealsaninterestinthemediumofrepresentationasmuchasthesubjectrepresented.TheviewerisinvitedtoquestionwhytheartistmadeChinaTownasananimationratherthanasacontinuousfilm.Theanimationistheresultoftheartist’spainstakingeditorialactivity,especiallygiventheunequaldurationofeachphotographduringtheprojection.Itthereforereinforcesthroughitsproductiontheideasofmaterialityandlabourwhichmakeupthesubjectofthefilm.<br/> <ahref="https://www.douban.com/link2/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tate.org.uk%2Fart%2Fartworks%2Fraven-china-town-t13799&link2key=b1a13e9645"target="_blank"rel="nofollow">https://www.tate.org<wbr/>.uk/art/artworks/rav<wbr/>en-china-town-t13799<wbr/></a>